Refrigerating apparatus



Nov. 3, 1931.

B. J, VANDOREN REFRIGERATING APPARATU Filed March 51, 1930 3Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR *4 ad ATTORNEY Nov. 3, 1931. 8., J. VANDOREN I1,830,044

REFRIGERATING APPARATUS Filed March 31, 1930 s Sheets- Sheet 2 1931- I'B. J. VANDOREN 1,830,044

'REFRIGERATING APPARATUS I I Filed March 31, 1930 I 3 Sheets-Sheet 3INVENTOR Adm Mum ATI'ORNEY Patented Nov. 3, 1931 v UNITED STATES 1 .'r1a:1-1'r oFFIcE I BERNARD J. FANDOBEN, 6F DAYTON, OHIO, TASSIGN 'OB TOFBIGIDATBE OOBEORATION,

or DAYTON, 0310, A oonrorm'rron or DELAWARE anrarenaa'rme AII-ABATUSApplication filed m n 31, 1930. Serial 110.440,!585.

, V This invention 'relates'to refrigerating apparatus and morearticularly to domestic mechanically cooled refrigerators provided withmeans for storing and preserving green vegetables or the like.

An object of .this invention is to provide the mechanical refrigerator,for instance of the household type, with means for storing greenvegetables so that their original crlspness may be retained or restored.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention 'will beapparent fromthe following description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, wherein a preferred form of the present inventionis clearly shown. x In the drawingsi Fig. 1 is a front elevation ofa-refrigerator J embodying features of this invention;

Fig. 2 is'an enlarged-cross-sectional view taken along the line 2- 2'ofFig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section taken along.

the line 33 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal cross-sectional view taken along the line H ofFig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation, with parts broken away and a furtherenlarged scale, of the receptacle'shown in Fig. 2; a

Fig. 6 isfa side elevation, taken from the rear, of the receptacle andits support;

Fig. 7 is. anenlarged front elevation of a I portion of thereceptacle'and its support, and

Fig.8 is a view in cross section showing another type of receptacle andcover therefor'embodying featuresof the present invention.

A refrigerating apparatus embodying features of this invention mayinclude a refrigcrating apparatus, generally designated as 20 thedomestic type.

which may be a mechanical refrigerator. of Thus it may include amechanical coolmg unit, for instance of the evaporator type, generallydesignated as 21. This unit may be provided with refrigerant whichprovides temperatures below the temperatures of melting ice. Therefrigerator may alsoinclude a cooling chamber or compartment 22 whichmay be provided with one or more'shelv'es 23 and 24 In a structure ofthis kind air circulates within the cooling chamber or compartment .22and passes in contact with ing' unit 21. This action reduces thehumidity of the air to-such anextent that articles placed in thecompartment are liable to have an injurious amount of moistureevaporated therefrom. This is particularly true with respect to greenvegetables, such as lettuce, celery, radishes, carrots and the like.-

Means may be provided in the refrigerator for storing such vegetables asthose enumerated above, so that their original crispness is maintainedor restored. Thus a receptacle 25 may be provided, whichreceptacleincludes a cover 26 so .that'the circulation of air beat 27and 28, to the front and rear outer wires of the shelf. The wire may beprovided with a downward and outward offset 29 permitting the receptacle25 to slide into and out from under the shelf 23. The receptacle25pre'ferably is of suflicient length to accommodate .celer of ordinarylength, and of suificient widt and depth to accommodate vegetables suchas head lettuceor the like. Thus a receptacle linches in length, 7inches in width and 4 inches in depth has been found satisfactorythemechanical cooltween the receptacle and the compartment is The cover maybe, though not necessarily, separate from either the receptacle 25 orthe slideways 26a. Preferably the receptacle 25 is provided with anoutwardly and downwardly directed 'flange 30 which is adapted to rest onthe slideways 26a. This flange may have its downwardly directed lid cutaway at the rear corners as'at 32 in order to permit 'the receptacle toslide along the slideways 26a. Preferably the'cover 26 also is providedwith a downwardly directed flange 31 adapted to extend around the flange30 along the slideways 26a and with notc es at the rear corners as at33a. The front of the receptacle may have its flange extended as shownat 35 to form a handle for pulling out the receptacle.

Preferably, the receptacle 25 may be moved or slid in either directionwhile the cover 26 remains stationary. Thus the outwardly extendingflange 31, of cover 26, may be directed upwardly at the front end 33thereof to thus permit the receptacle 25 to be drawn forward. In orderto retain the cover 26 in position while the receptacle 25 is beingpulled out, a wire 36 having its ends wrapped around as at 36a anddependnng from the slideways 26a, has been provided. Thus the outwardlyextending flange 31, of cover 26, may be directed downwardly to form acurled edge 38 which is placed over the wire 36. Thus the receptacle maybe slid in either direction while the curled edge 38 engages the wire 36to retain the cover 26 in position. The cover may be removedindependently of the receptacle by tilting the front end thereof, untilthe curled edge 38 is above the wire 36, for instance by using theportion 30b of the receptacle as a fulcrum, then removed by sliding sameforward.

The receptacle 25 may be removed entirely from under the shelf withoutremoving the cover 26, and it may be reinserted with its flanges 30between the cover and the slideways 26a by lifting up the front end 33of cover 26 with the rear portion 30a of flange 30 and then by slidingthe receptacle into its proper position. When the receptacle is with-.drawn, the flanges 31 of cover 26 will rest on the slideways 26a untilthe receptacle is replaced as previously described- If desired, the recetacle 25 and its cover 26 may be removed rom under theshelf 23 as aunit. This may be accomplished by first moving the rear portion of thereceptacle upwardly until the flanged end 38 of the cover is above thewire 36, then drawing the receptacle and its cover toward the front ofthe shelf until said receptacle and cover are free from the slidewaysand shelf.

Since some or all of the structures shown are preferably porcelainenameled, it is desirable to prevent contact between the receptacle andthe lining 41 of the compartment 22. This may be accomplished byproviding a bumper 42 which may be made of rubber and carried bycountersunk bolt 44. at the rear of the receptacle 25.

Referring to Fig. 8 there is shown a receptacle 25a which may correspondto the receptacle 25 omitting the rubber bumper. The receptacle 25a isprovided with a cover 26?) which may be similar to the cover 26.However, the cover 26?; is provided with an indented portion whichlimits the outward movement of the receptacle 25a. Thus when thereceptacle is moved outwardly until it reaches a predetermined pointwhich I have indicated in dot and dash lines, the inside upper rearportion of the receptacle 25a will normally engage the indented portion50 to thus prevent the entire removal of the receptacle from under theshelf. This is advantageous since it prevents the possibility of therear portion of the receptacle falling downwardly should the receptaclebe unexpectedly moved outwardly too far. However, if desired, thereceptacle 2511 may be entirely removed from under the shelf by liftingthe front end of the cover 265 upwardly until the indented portion 50clears the receptacle 25a then removing said receptacle by pulling sameforward.

Prefera ly, the receptacle 25a may be moved in either direction on theslideways while the cover 26?) remains stationary. In order to retainthe cover 26b in position while the receptacle is being moved, the cover260 may be provided with an outwardly directed flange 38a which may beformed in the shape of a double U having three parallel sides namely,52, 53 and 54. Thus the flange 38a may be placed over the wire 36 withthe parallel sides 52 and 53 on opposite sides of said wire. Thus, whenthe receptacle is being moved outwardly the side 52 of flange 38a willengage the wire 36 to retain the cover 26b in position. When thereceptacle is being moved inwardly the parallel side 53 of flange 380;will engage the wire 36 to retain the cover 266 in position. Theparallel side 54 of the flange 38a is adapted to stop the receptacle onits rearward movement when the receptacle reaches its proper closedposition. Thus when the outwardly directed curled edge 55 of .receptacle25a engages the parallel side 54 any further rearward movement of thereceptacle is revented since the side 53 of flange 38a will engage wire36 to act as a stop for the receptacle 25a. Thus it will be noted thatthe movement of the receptacle 25a is limited in the one direction bythe indented portion 50 of the cover 265 and in the opposite directionby the parallel side 54 of flange 38a.

The cover 26?) may be removed independently of the receptacle 25a in thesame manner as the cover 26 is removable from the receptacle 25. Also,the receptacle 25a and its cover 26b may be removable as a unit in thesame manner as the receptacle 25 and cover 26 areremovable as a unit.

Ventilating means for providing a restricted circulation between theinner part of the receptacles 25 and 25a and the compartment 22 may beprovided. This may be accomplished by providing one or more apertures 40along the upper part of the receptacles 25 and 25a. In areceptacle ofthe size above indicated, three holes on each side of inches in diameterhave been found satisfactory.

The preferred method of utilizing the retables is to wash the vegetablesandthen while a certaln'amount of free moistureremains on vegetables toplace the same in either the receptacle '25 orreceptacle 25a under theshelf 23 with the cover over'the receptacle. It has been found that witha limited circulation through the ventilating means that the originalcrispness of the vegetables is retained or restored. The construction.preferably is such that with a cooling unit of the float controlled typesuch as shown in the patent to R. G. Osborn, No. 1,556,708, issuedOctober 13, 1925, and'with the cooling unit maintained at substantially20 F. so that the air circulatin around the receptacle 25is at 45 F.satis actory results are obtained if the ventilating means permits thedaily evaporation of approximately one fivehundredth by weight of themaximum vegetable content of the receptacle 25 or receptacle 25a.

Thus if the receptacles are adapted to contain 5 lbs. of vegetables,with the temperature 1 conditions above indicated it has been found thatone one-hundredth of a-pound of moisture may be evaporated dailyfrom thecontents of the receptacleand that under suchc'onditions the originalcrispness of the vegetables is retained or restored unless. thevegetables have been unduly wilted so that their cells have beendestroyed.

While the form of embodiment of the invention as herein disclosedconstitutes a preferred form, it is to' be understood that'other formsmight be adopted, all coming within.

the scope ofthe claims which follow.

What is claimed islas follows:

- 1. A refrigerating apparatus comprising a cooling chamber, a shelftherei'n' for articles the movement of said taclennder said shelf andsupported thereby for storage of ve tables or the .-like,-a cover forsaid receptac 'e supported by said recep-. tacle, there beingventilation means for. providing a restricted ventilation between saidchamber and receptacle and means for retaining said cover in posltionwhen the receptacle is being moved. p

.5. Refrigerating apparatus comprising a cooling chamber, a shelftherein for supporting articles to be cooled, a removable rece tacleunder said'shelf and supported there y for storage of vegetables or thelike, a cover for said receptacle supported by said'receptacle, therebeing holes-formed by saidv receptacle in at least one wall thereofproviding arestricted ventilation between said chamber and receptacle,and means for retaining said cover in position when the receptacle is,being moved. a '6. A refrigeratingapparatus comprising cooling' chamber,a shelf therein for support- I ling articles to be cooled, a removablerecepa cooling chamber, a shelf therein for supcover for said receptaclesupported by said-- receptacle, means .for retaining said cover inposition when the receptacle is being moved in either direction,and-means for limiting direction.

In testimony whereof I hereto aflix my sig-' nature. 1

shelf, a receptacle slidable on said slideways,

a cover-for said receptacle supported by said receptacle, and meansforretaming said cover in position when the receptacle is being slid.

2. Refrigerating apparatus compris ng a cooling compartment, a shelftherem forarticles to becooled, slidewa s depending from cover in on 4.Refrigerating apparatuscomprising a said shelf, a: receptacle sli ableonsaidslide ways, a-cover for-said receptacle supported.

by said receptacle, and means. dependm from one of said slideways forretain sai position-when'the receptacle is being slid to- ,be cooled,slidew'ays depending from :said shelf, a receptacle slidable' on saidslide- A refrigerating ap aratus comprising a cooling chamber, a sheltherein for articles ways and removable therefrom, a cover for.

said receptacle supported by said remaptacle, and means for retainingsaid cover in position when the receptacle being slid and saidcoverresting on said slideways when'the receptacle is removed therefrom.

BERNARD J. VANDOBEN.

receptacle in either a

